Import Mono or Stereo IR’s to your Axe FX III

[supersonic182]

I understand mono is simplest and most reliable, but there are very few cabs in the default bank that stipulate that they’re L or R. I usually do run mono, but sometimes I play with stereo. Mostly I use the default cabs as they’re great, but I did buy an ownhammer pack of my favorite cab setup and was overwhelmed at the mad amount of subfolders for both mono and stereo. I always thought it was supposed to just be this speaker+cab+this mic.

So is there a standard choice here? If I use a stereo IR I will have L+R in one IR? Can someone help me understand these IR things? I did try researching it myself but nobody was simply asking or telling what I am as far as I could see. If you dig what I’m saying I appreciate some explanation and if there’s a best practice etc, or a sound difference to be experienced, or what happens when you pan a mono vs stereo IR.

 

[skolacki]

L and R are separate IR’s. Use both and pan left and right.

 

[supersonic182]

I know that. That’s not quite my point

 

[mr_fender]

All Fractal supported IRs are mono. If it shows L+R on the IR, then it's a mix of the two channels in one mono IR. The only way to get stereo separation is using more than one IR and and panning them accordingly.

 

[supersonic182]

All Fractal supported IRs are mono. If it shows L+R on the IR, then it's a mix of the two channels in one mono IR. The only way to get stereo separation is using more than one IR and and panning them accordingly.

So if I import a “stereo IR” then it comes in as L+R?

 

[mr_fender]

IIRC, importing a stereo file creates two separate user cabs, one for each channel.

 

[bebaldwin]

Glad this thread came up, I was wondering about this myself. Thanks to all involved.

 

[giantslayer]

I don’t have experience with the commercial stereo IRs you mentioned, but I have recently created my own stereo IRs using Cab Lab 4. I took the same mic, same distance from speaker and center of cone, and just moved it to a different yet kinda similar sounding spot on the speaker. With stereo monitors or in-ears, it sounds a lot better/more real than one IR.

The theory behind it is that guitar speakers don’t radiate sound evenly: it is a little (or quite a bit) different depending on your angle. When you listen to a guitar speaker in person, your two ears are receiving slightly different tones. A stereo IR pair can simulate this.

Does it matter if you have a dedicated stereo IR or just grab two random IRs? Depends on the two random IRs, but I would say yes it matters. Different microphones and speaker positions might be good for mixing to shape your tone, but it is not good to simulate the natural, in-person stereo experience.

Having stereo IRs that sound very close to each other is also better for playing live because you might go to a venue that only has one channel for your guitar or only one for the monitor feed. In those situations, you don’t want a stereo setup that needs both sides to balance each other out.

 

[Andrew Male]

Dedicated stereo L+R labelled IRs are really only room reverb IRs. Most of the time I don't use them and I suspect 95%+ of people's presets don't contain stereo IRs, but they can be nice when using headphones, especially the fullres IRs. But in general I don't think stereo IRs are used much.

Note, this is different to panning close mic'd mono IRs to get a stereo effect, which is very common I believe.

 

[mr_fender]

I don’t have experience with the commercial stereo IRs you mentioned, but I have recently created my own stereo IRs using Cab Lab 4. I took the same mic, same distance from speaker and center of cone, and just moved it to a different yet kinda similar sounding spot on the speaker. With stereo monitors or in-ears, it sounds a lot better/more real than one IR.

The theory behind it is that guitar speakers don’t radiate sound evenly: it is a little (or quite a bit) different depending on your angle. When you listen to a guitar speaker in person, your two ears are receiving slightly different tones. A stereo IR pair can simulate this.

Does it matter if you have a dedicated stereo IR or just grab two random IRs? Depends on the two random IRs, but I would say yes it matters. Different microphones and speaker positions might be good for mixing to shape your tone, but it is not good to simulate the natural, in-person stereo experience.

Having stereo IRs that sound very close to each other is also better for playing live because you might go to a venue that only has one channel for your guitar or only one for the monitor feed. In those situations, you don’t want a stereo setup that needs both sides to balance each other out.

Yeah. What creates the stereo image illusion is the difference between the two channels. If the two channels are identical, there is no stereo separation and it's basically mono at that point (like a mono track panned center on a stereo bus). The more different the two channels are, the further apart or wider they will sound.

Level differences between the channels gives you panning and placement in the stereo field. Timing and frequency content differences between the channels gives you a widening effect. If the differences are fairly subtle, we hear it as one sound but very big and wide (like double tracking). If they get too different we hear it as two distinct sources.